Would you light my candle?
by Ms. Mimi Elphie-Amy
Summary: After Mimi ditches Roger for her smack, Roger has to adjust to a new life...Including a new girl with more baggage then Mimi! Can Roger and the new girl's love conquer over all of their baggage? Not your average RogerOC -mentions of abuse- ON HIATUS!
1. New girl in the building

**Okay, I got an idea for a RogerOC story that wouldn't leave me alone. When I read some RogerOC stories, the girls seem to have no baggage (I'm not saying **_**all **_**of them are that way), and that's sort of a letdown after Mimi. So, here I created a rocker chica with a bad past, but who seems to find solace in writing and with our favourite Bohemian family!**

**I couldn't think of a better title, so forgive me. **

**Anyways, enjoy and **_**no flames please**_**. If you don't like it stop reading!**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Rent**_**, J. Larson owns it. But I DO own a copy of Anthony's book, **_**Without you**_** (Well not really, I borrowed it from the library) **___

"_You can see it in my eyes!_" Roger Davis sang, looking out into the audience. Almost the whole bar was silent, and all the women looked at him with sighs and hazed-over eyes. Roger didn't know if it was from drugs or from the emotion he put into his voice. It was probably both.

He didn't know why, but every time he sang, _'Your Eyes'_, everyone just shut up and listened. It was as if it was the best song in the world.

Well, really, it was to him.

It was his first song in a year, it was his first song that he had put his full heart into it...it was the last song he played for the love of his life, before she left. No, she didn't _die_; Roger would've died along with her if she had.

She left.

Just like that. She just packed up her stuff, wrote a poorly written note, and left. Her excuse? _I'm sorry Roger, but I need my smack. I'm not as strong as you are, and I'll die without it. Please understand. Don't go looking for me; I'm leaving New York. Just forgive me and move on. I don't want my hard work to go to waste do I?_

She went on about how important to her it was that he moved on, and she went into a ramble about how much she needed her smack, but for the most part that was it. That's all she left her group with.

They were all devastated and horrified that she was going back to the thing that was killing her, but they knew they couldn't stop her. They did go searching, but after 3 months, they finally believed in the fact that she indeed left New York. Roger was devastated for awhile, and he refused to leave the house. But just as the group thought that he was returning to his 'April' depression, he rebounded. He got up, got a band, and became a Roger that they have never seen...a Roger without Mimi, yet not a horribly depressed Roger.

He was a new and improved Roger.

Sure, now and then he's quiet, and he relies on his band mates for new lyrics and song ideas, but his heart is there.

Applause brought Roger out of his reverie. He gave a small smile to the crowd and nodded his head towards the whooping and squealing girls. Which only made them squeal and whoop more.

Roger couldn't win tonight.

"Thank you, everyone! We're _Muse_, and we'll see y'all tomorrow night!" Roger cried into the micro, and then took off his guitar. Applause rang through the bar, and he just smiled at the people. With that, the whole band quickly dispersed off the stage. "That was awesome! Did you _hear_ that applause?" Sean cried happily. He's the newest guitarist in their band, and he was the youngest and most inexperienced. This was only his 5th show, and the other band members were impressed about how good he was on the stage. That's the only reason they let him in their band.

"Yes, we _all _heard it Sean! It was _insane_!! That's probably our next lead hit. It'll hit 1# on the charts!" Aaron, the drummer, said with a smile. He was the quieter one of the whole group.

"To celebrate, we must go to the bar. Pick up some chicks!" Steve, the lead guitarist said with a grin. "Naw. I have to get home. It's my best friend's birthday. I'm already late, so see yah guys!" Roger said, putting his guitar in his guitar case. "Aww!! We wanted you to come with us. Get drunk!" Sean said with a smile.

"Relax dude. I'll do it next time." Roger said with a shrug. "Yeah, but that's what you said _last_ time." Sean said with a roll of his eyes. "Exactly. And I'm going to keep saying it until you get the message." Roger said, and exited the bar with his guitar in hand.

The cold night air hit him like a wave. Winter still hung in the air, even though spring was here. Roger couldn't wait for summer to come. It was his favourite season. No cold harsh nights with blue feet, no layer after _layer _of jackets and blankets. No cold _whatsoever_. Just hot sunny days and warm light-blanket nights. And the _sun_! God, the sun was terrific...

Everyone liked the summer. The whole group seemed to be happier because of it. Mo and Jo fight less (though now they only have one fight every day or so he's told), Collins smiles more, Mark comes out of that camera, and Roger...he goes outside more.

Roger breathed in the cold night air, and grimaced as it burned down his throat. God, he _hated _the cold. He had a passion for it. Maybe because he almost lost Mimi to it, or maybe because he could die from it himself...or maybe just because it's just plain _uncomfortable_.

_I think it's the 3__rd__ reason._ He thought, looking around at the darkness around him.

He walked down the street quickly now, knowing he was already late for Mark's birthday. He didn't want to be late, but they needed the money now that Mark has decided to put his whole self into his filming.

Mark didn't like the fact that Roger was their sole supporter (except the rare times that Jo or Collins let them borrow money). He didn't like that he has to depend on Roger's meager gig money.

But it was better than working at _Buzzline_, the 7th ring of Hell.

Mo was probably going to kill Roger for being late. That's the reason why he was never late for birthday parties. Mo was obsessed with birthdays, and the group was thoroughly spoiled on their birthdays.

He was only late for one birthday 3 years ago...Mo's. When he arrived 2 hours late, Mo left the room angrily and refused to speak to him for a week. She only forgave him when he set up a little birthday party for just the two of them. It was a small little party, which consisted of confetti, hot dogs, and cheap beer. And of course a cow bell as a birthday present.

Roger smiled at the memory. They had gotten so drunk that night. They still joked about it now.

He finally reached the beat up old building. It was full of graffiti, dirt, and not to mention all the garbage...

_Home sweet fucking home..._

Roger grabbed his key from his pocket (this time...he rarely remembered to bring his key with him for after his gig), and slipped it into the keyhole. But not without a little fight.

Yes, that little key and keyhole gave a fight. They were known to hate each other. But they lost the war, after Roger somehow got past their defences and slipped the key inside. "Ha ha! You lose again!" Roger whispered under his breath. They really needed to change the lock...it _was_ just them in the building. Roger entered into the building, which wasn't any warmer then how it was outside.

Not bothering to check the mail, Roger sped up the stairs. His friends were probably waiting, and Mo was probably getting that killer look in her eyes...That alone made Roger speed faster. But as he neared the floor that was just under Mimi's old floor **(A/N The 3****rd**** floor)**, he heard something. It was noise of keys jingling, a couple of muttered words, and a stomp of a foot.

What was that? They were the only people in the building. Then who in the hell-

"SHIT!! C'mon you STUPID lock!! Open up, open_ up_!!"

Okay, maybe there weren't the _only_ ones in the building.

But one thing puzzled Roger...who could this mystery person be? No one else has moved into the building since Benny, Roger, Mark, Mo, Collins, and April had moved in. At least that's what he thought. _I'm obviously wrong._ Roger thought to himself.

It was a girl, because that high pitched voice could only belong to one. She was obviously very pissed off with her lock (who wasn't?), and she desperately wanted to get in. He could also tell she was a smoker, because her voice was kind of rough.

"C'mon, c'mon, COME ON!" the woman cried, and Roger heard a noise that sounded like a door being kicked.

"OW! SHIT SHIT SHIT! MY FUCKIN' TOE!"

Roger had a pretty good idea what happened to the poor girl. Roger couldn't help but smile; the woman sounded a lot like Mimi when she was frustrated. _Stop comparing, Davis. Just walk past this woman. Maybe a simple hello. _But instead of going on up the steps faster, he found himself slowing. He walked as lightly and slowly as he could, hoping the mystery woman wouldn't hear him.

"SHIT! Good job, Liz. Break your fudgin' toe-I HOPE YOU BURN IN BLOODY HELL YOU _STUPID _LOCK! _Why _do you hate me?!" Roger almost couldn't contain his laughter. Fudgin'? She sounded like a 17 yr old trying not to swear. Hey, maybe she was. Mimi did run away at 15-_Stop thinking about her Davis!_

He heard a sigh, and a small thump. Roger assumed that she was sitting on the floor now. "Why tonight? God must really hate me." She whispered, sounding very depressed. It was then Roger realized what time it was. He left the bar at...12:18 a.m. So it has to be in between 12:30 and 12:45...

What was a 17 yr old doing up this late?

_Wait_, if it _was_ in between 12:30 and 12:45, then Mo must be full blown pissed by now...

Oh, _shit_.

Now he had no choice but to go past her. Roger sighed, and walked up the rest of the steps that led him to the third floor. When he got to the top, he stopped dead.

The girl was huddled on the floor, with a small candle in her hands, a small purse that was bulging with stuff beside her, and a small tear falling from her piercing blue eyes. That was what caught his attention most of all. Those eyes...they were even more beautiful then Mimi's.

Pure, pure blue....

"Who're you?"

**To be continued...**


	2. No day but today!

**In this chapter you meet me character...YAY!! **

******_**Bold/italic**_** = when they're singing**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own RENT, but I do own Elizabeth's character**_

"Who are you?" the woman asked again.

"I-I'm Roger."

"Roger? Nice name." The girl said with an indifferent shrug, and quickly wiped the tear from her cheek. "And you are?" Roger asked, coming forward a bit. The woman now turned to look at him, and her eyes widened. Out of shock or fear he didn't know.

She abruptly stood up, and looked at him with her head held high. Pride and bravery replaced the tears in her eyes, and she looked up at him levelly. "Elizabeth." She said, looking at him with distrust in her eyes.

"Nice name." Roger muttered. Roger could now see she was probably poor. Most of her clothes had holes in them, and she was wearing a meagre jean jacket against the cold. Torn purple tights covered her thin legs, with a short green dress over it that looked too big on her, and a small rope tied around her waist (to keep the dress against her Roger guessed). A pair of black worn combat boots finished up the outfit. Her hair was in a very loose hair band, and it looked as if it hadn't been brushed in awhile. As he assessed her, she stared at him as if he was some nutcase or something...

This wasn't going well _at all_.

"You live in the building?" she suddenly asked, picking her bag off the floor, but still keeping her candle close to her. "Yeah. I live on the top floor with my roommate." Roger said with a shrug.

"Oh! So you're Mark's roommate!"

_Wait, _what_?_

"You know Mark?"

"Yeah. I've only met him 5 or 6 times though." She said with a shrug, and everything went silent. But not for long. "Hey, did you hear me talking to myself a couple of minutes ago?" she asked, looking embarrassed.

Roger grinned, but he knew he didn't want to cause her further embarrassment. "No, I didn't. I just came in." _Yeah, yeah, people tell me it's not good to start a relationship on lies, but I'm just trying to spare her from the horrible feeling of embarrassment._

Elizabeth looked at him critically, and then went into her pocket and pulled out her keys. "I was trying to unlock my door. Didn't work out exactly." She said, chuckling softly and giving him a small smile.

Roger never believed in love at first sight, but at that moment he knew he was as close to it as he'd ever get. _She's beautiful..._

"What're you staring at?" she asked, frowning at Roger.

_Déjà vu. _Roger suddenly pictured Mimi on the night he met her. Sure, they were in the loft, and it was Christmas Eve, and Mimi's a totally different girl, but the situation he was in now...A candle, him staring at her, this being their first meeting...reminded him too much of Mimi.

Roger bit his tongue from responding, "_**Your hair in the moonlight...**_"

"Nothing." He shook his head. Elizabeth looked at him a raised eyebrow **(A/N I WISH I COULD DO THAT!)** and then held the key up to eye level. "Before you came along, I was trying to fit my key into the lock. Can you help me out?"

_YESSS!!!!!_

But it was at that moment that Mark's disappointed face and Mo's mad one came to Roger's mind. "Sorry, I can't. Its Mark's birthday and our friend Maureen will kill me if I'm late-"

"It's Mark's birthday? And I didn't know about this? Damn, I'm going to have to make it up to him." Elizabeth sighed. "You can come up if you like." Roger said with a smile. Elizabeth's face lit up instantly. "Really?"

"Of course. He'd like you there." I'd _like it if you were there._

"Cool." She said with a grin. She adjusted her bag and looked at the floor for a second. "Shall we?" Roger said, nodding towards the stairs in front of them. "Yep." She said with another smile, and let Roger take the lead as they both walked up the stairs.

They both walked up the stairs in silence, both of them clawing their heads for something to say. _Anything_ to say. But they kept drawing up blanks. Especially Elizabeth.

_What can I say? What can I say?_ She thought, and she looked up at Roger. He was in front of her, but his head was turned as if to look behind him. _He's looking at me._

The moment Elizabeth came to that realization, Roger turned his head again; but this time away from her. She grinned, and looked away from Roger.

_He is staring at me, he is staring at me..._Elizabeth overall liked this guy. He was kind-looking, he had a rock star vibe about him (hopefully though he wouldn't be into drugs), and he was gentlemanly enough to try to save her from embarrassment (she knew he had heard her talking before from the grin on his face). He also seemed cool, and seemed to be _himself _you know.

_Unlike me._ Elizabeth thought, but quickly buried that thought away. She was getting tired of the low self esteem bad chick that was herself. _Maybe he'll be different._ She thought to herself as they got to the 4th floor. A new hope arose in her that she hadn't felt in a long time. She hoped with all her might that he was a good guy. _Well, he's friends with Mark so he probably is-_

Suddenly, the two were engulfed in darkness. Elizabeth gasped, instantly scared. She didn't exactly like the dark. It reminded her too much of-

_No, don't think about that now._ She chastised herself. "Whoa." Roger said to nobody in particular. "Yeah." Elizabeth agreed, wondering how in the hell it got so dark...

_My candle!_ She suddenly remembered, remembering the candle in her hand. It was blown out. The candle was the only thing that was lighting their way. "Hey, do you have a match or a lighter?" Elizabeth found herself asking, her breathing suddenly becoming quicker. _Stop it. _She told herself angrily.

"Yeah I think so...why?" Roger asked, sounding curious. Elizabeth heard him come closer to her, and she made herself stay in place. _Stay, stay, stay-_

"Would y-you light my c-candle?" she finally managed to stutter, holding the candle close. She could use it as a weapon if-_No, no, no, no thinking such things._ She told herself. She tried to look around in the dark, but all that surrounded her was darkness. They only light coming in was the moonlight, but that didn't even touch the two.

"What?" Roger suddenly asked, sounding as if he was controlling something from deep inside him...like a feeling. "Can you please light my candle? That was the only thing that was lighting the room." She repeated.

Suddenly, a lighter flared, and the room was once again engulfed in light. Roger was close to her, maybe a forearm away. Elizabeth held in a gasp at their proximity, and she made herself stay put. She held out her candle shyly, and he put the flame onto the wick. As Roger stared at the flame, Elizabeth took the chance to look at Roger's eyes. She didn't get a chance before. What Elizabeth saw their shocked her...

She saw anger. Anger and hurt. _Did I cause that?_ She thought, looking into his eyes. As she looked, she realized something...his eyes were a nice blue-green. Elizabeth almost gasped in shock; she had always wanted a boyfriend with blue-green eyes.

_Coincidence, coincidence..._she told herself over and over again, but as she looked at him she realized that he was like the guy she had described to her friends when they asked her to "describe your dream guy".

_He'd be charming, kind, loving, intense...he'd play guitar and be in a band. But they'd have to have a good band name, not something as stupid as...The Metal Curlers or The Insane Flabberjackets...something sane, you know? But anyways, I don't care about his hair, but his eyes...they'd have to be blue-green, and have to see right into my soul, you know?_

Her friends laughed at her, saying there was no man alive like that for her, but Elizabeth kept looking. Now, here he was in front of her...

And now he was staring back at her.

"What?" he smirked. Elizabeth blinked, bringing her back out of her thoughts. "Nothing..._**Your eyes in the moonlight.**_" She sang lightly, underneath her breath. But Roger heard anyways. Roger stared at her for a long second, and then said, "There's no moonlight."

Ha ha! He _was_ angry! Elizabeth heard it in his tone. _Man...angry...run run run!_ Her mind cried, but Elizabeth stood, as if rooted to the floor. "Yeah there is..._**I can see it in your eyes."**_ She sang quietly, looking at him with a small smile.

Roger visibly stiffened, and looked at her with a frown. "How do you-Never mind." Roger finished, turning around. "Hey, you okay?" Elizabeth asked, and reached out for his shoulder. She instantly regretted it. Just before her hand was going to hit his shoulder, he turned, and she saw the same anger as before in his eyes.

"You know, _**maybe you should come up some other time**_." Roger said rudely, frowning at her. "_**Why? Is my coming up such a crime?**_" she asked, going to gently grab his forearm. But he pulled away as if she was on fire, visible anger in his eyes.

"_**Another time -- another place  
The words would only rhyme  
We'd be in outer space  
It'd be another song  
We'd sing another way  
You wanna prove me wrong?  
Come back-**_"but before he could continue singing, Elizabeth cut him off. Now she was just as pissed as he was. How dare he invite her, and then practically push her down the stairs. She wasn't giving up without a fight.

"_**NO DAY BUT TODAY!**_" she sang right back at him looking angry. Roger stopped dead, and looked at her. Sure, there was some anger in his eyes, but there was also some softness in them.

Was it what she said? She found that quote scrawled on the wall in the 4th floor apartment. She was just snooping around, and exploring the building when she found it.

When she found it, she instantly made_ 'No day but today' _her motto, and she left the apartment. She wanted to give the girl who lived her before some respect. Apparently it was some girl named Mimi, who died a little while ago **(A/N Ooooh...now **_**why**_** would Mark lie to Lizzie?)**. Roger and Mimi were some sort a fling...that's all Mark told her.

They stared at each other for a couple more seconds, and then Elizabeth sped down the stairs. _Who needs that shit? _She reasoned.

Roger was left there all alone. For a couple of seconds, all was quiet and dark (Elizabeth took the only light with her). He felt numb, and he sat on the steps. He considered going after her, but decided against it when he remembered the anger in her eyes._ I'll go tomorrow._ He reasoned...

_What did I just do? _He thought, holding his head in his hands. He just made the one girl who gave him a chance mad. That's what he did. And why did he make her mad...because she sounded too much like Mimi.

_Mimi..._

Roger then realized that he right outside of Mimi's old apartment. He instinctively got up, and walked to the door. He opened the door with ease (they always left it unlocked), and walked inside. He was met by silence and darkness, not so much different from outside in the hall.

Roger sighed, not knowing why he was in there, and turned to leave, when he heard something. Outside.

Curious, he walked over to the window, and opened it slightly. Talking. A girl. Now even more curious, he opened in fully (not making any noise), and looked out. On the fire escape below Mimi's was the girl he just fought with...Elizabeth.

She was looking angrily out at the air, and she seemed to be talking to herself. Even more interested, he listened in.

"_**The heart may freeze or it can burn  
The pain will ease if I can learn-"**_she sang with passion and anger in her voice. She was gripping the railing hard, and looking out into the distance. Roger almost wanted to call Mark out to get him to film her. _She's gorgeous in the moonlight. _Roger thought, looking out at her.  
_**"There is no future  
There is no past  
I live this moment as my last  
There's only us  
There's only this  
Forget regret  
Or life is yours to miss  
No other road  
No other way  
No day but today.**_" She sang softly, holding a newly lit cigarette in her tiny pale hand. She took a drag, and blew it out quickly in a cloud of smoke.

Roger recognized the "fancy prayer" Elizabeth was singing. It was what Mimi told him when he was kicking her out so many years ago. But before Roger could think anymore on the subject, she started to sing again with her angel voice.

"_**There's only yes  
Only tonight  
We must let go  
To know what's right  
No other course  
No other way  
No day but today...**__" _she repeated, looking out. _She has a nice voice._ Roger thought distractedly. _****_

_"__**I can't control  
My destiny  
I trust my soul  
My only goal is just  
To be  
There's only now  
There's only here  
Give in to love  
Or live in fear  
No other path  
No other way  
No day but today  
No day but today  
No day but today...**_" she sang, holding her fist close to her chest with a passion in her that Roger had never seen in anyone before. She looked as if she_ felt_ the music, as if it was a part of her. In her singing, she had backed away from the railing, and had thrown the cig away. Now she leaned against her window, looking tired.

"Thank you and goodnight NYC. And remember, _'No day but today' _" Elizabeth muttered trying to sound like a game show host or something. Roger smiled, and kept looking at her.

She stared into space for a couple more minutes, looked up at the sky as if searching for something, and then turned and opened the window. With that she went inside, and Roger left the window feeling shaken yet intrigued.

He_ had_ to get to know this girl.


	3. Break up and a maybe make up

**Chapter 3!! Lizzie/Mark friendship (!!!) here...wait, on that note I've decided to go by Elizabeth's nickname, "Lizzie" or "Liz" (Elizabeth is such a long name) EnjoY!**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Rent, but I do own Lizzie, and Lizzie's story line for Mark**_

Lizzie stood out on her fire escape/balcony, staring at the street below. Everything was just beginning to light up, so everything around her was given a baby blue hue. She was tired, but she couldn't sleep sadly enough. Almost--no, _every _night, she always wakes up crying because of a nightmare. 'A good night sleep' was a foreign term to Lizzie. It also didn't look like the 'good night sleep' fairy wasn't planning on visiting her anytime soon.

So Lizzie just sat there, watching as NYC woke up and taking long drags from her cigarette. She had tried a couple of minutes before to get into her writing, but it didn't work. Her thoughts put her stories on hold.

She mostly thought about the night before. Roger probably thought she was just some stupid little 18 yr old chick (even though she was really 20 yrs old...people got mixed up with her age sometimes because she looks so young), or better yet he probably hated her for whatever reason. _Good first impression, Liz. _She thought, leaning against the stairway behind her.

She sat there for awhile, eyes closed and trying to keep her thoughts at bay, but they refused to be tamed. All she could think about was that boy, who was kind at first, and then ended up yelling at her for doing _something_...Liz didn't even know what she did!

She thought about the blond haired musician who at first seemed like her soulmate. "I thought he was different." Liz muttered into the air. She remembered his angry blue-green eyes...

But thankfully she was saved from thinking further by the rattling stairs from behind her. Curious, she looked up her stairs, and from there she found the source.

"Hey albino pumpkin head." Lizzie said, taking a drag from her cigarette. "Hey Liz." Mark answered, looking a little nervous. He came down the rest of the stairs to her fire escape, and sat down with her on the crate that she stole from work.

"Watcha doin' here Mark?" Lizzie asked, throwing her latest cigarette off the fire escape. Mark shrugged. "No reason in particular. Just came to see how you were doing." Mark answered, feigning indifference. But Lizzie could see right through Mark.

"Bullshit Mark, _bullshit_," Liz sighed, crossing her legs, "What are you_ really_ doing here?"

She overall liked Mark; he was sweet, and he had a nice nerdy demeanour. _I've always felt safe around nerds._ Liz though with a mental grin. "Okay, okay, you're right. I'm here to create some peace." That caught her attention.

"_Really_?"

"Yep. I heard you had a fight with my roommate, Roger last night."

Liz's eyebrows shot up. "He told you about me?" she asked, inquiring. _What did he say about me?_ Mark seemed to detect the hidden message beneath her words, and shrugged. "He didn't say much. He just told me that you were having troubles with your lock, then he invited you to my birthday and _then_ you two fought and you stormed away angrily."

"Oh." _Crap, how disappointing._

Again sensing the message underneath, he grinned. "He also said and I quote '...and she's kind of wonderful.'" Liz looked at him in shock and happiness. "You're joking."

"I'm totally serious Liz."

"Really? Are you sure?" _YES!!!_

Mark's grin grew, and he seemed happy. "Yeah."

"Awesome!" Liz said with a grin, but it quickly disappeared. How about if he didn't feel the same this morning? Everything can change within 24 hours. His mind could've changed, and this morning she could just be the annoying girl who shared the building with him and his roommate...

"What's wrong?" Mark asked, looking curious and worried at the same time. Lizzie couldn't force out the reason for her sadness, so she just looked out towards the road again and muttered, "Nothing." Mark didn't look like he believed her, but he let the subject drop. "Hey, I also have another reason I came down here." Liz turned looked at him. "Why then?"

"I wanted to invite you to a get together me and my friends are having tomorrow."

Liz's eyebrows practically hit the roof. "You're kidding."

"Nope."

"Why do you exactly want _me_ to come?"

"I want you to meet some pretty awesome people with great personalities. C'mon, it wouldn't hurt to meet some new people would it?"

"Yes, it would." Liz said stubbornly, looking at her nails. They were a dark dark purple; her favourite color. She didn't know why, but she found that purple was just so _her_. Especially dark purple. Half of the stuff in her apartment was purple. You'd be blind if you didn't notice it.

"C'mon Lizzie. It won't hurt honey. You just walk two flights up the stairs, go into our apartment, mingle, have fun, and then you can go back to the bat cave." Mark said, cracking a smile. Liz couldn't help but grin too. "You're such a nerd." Liz said, smiling at him. "Yeah, yeah, I've been hearing that for years. By the way, don't change the subject. Please come, Lizzie. Just come and meet my friends."

Lizzie sighed. Mark really wanted her to do this...Lizzie turned to him.

"Drama?" He shook his head.

"Drugs?" He shook his head vigorously. _I'm going to ask about that later._

"Beer?" This time he nodded. She grinned. "Free?" He smiled, and again nodded. "I'm in." Mark looked like he was too happy for words. "All righty then. That's great Lizzie! Roger will definitely like you being there."

Lizzie cringed, and turned back to the street. Mark stood up with a sigh. "C'mon, your self-esteem can't be _that_ low can it?"

"No, just nervous that's all." _You have no idea._

Mark sighed again, and turned to leave. Lizzie suddenly remembered a certain fact that she learned from Roger last night. "Hey!! Albino!!" Mark turned with a small smile, "What?"

"Happy birthday." Liz said with a grin, and passed him a few sheets of paper. Mark eyed it curiously, and looked at her with a frown. "What is it?" He asked, inspecting it. "My present for you dummy, since you were so _keen_ on not telling me it was your birthday." Liz said, rolling her eyes and smiling. Mark grinned, "I'm sorry. I didn't want you to get me anything, and it looks like you did anyway."

"That's what friends do Mark...at least, I think of myself as your friend." Liz said, slightly turning as Mark started up the stairs with his story in hand **(A/N yes, she wrote him a story for his b-day)**. "Of course you are Liz...I plan on collecting friends of all different personalities. I'm on 6/10 million." Mark said with a grin as he sped up the stairs.

Liz laughed, and cried good luck as he climbed the steps. _You are a really good friend Mark..._She thought, as she turned stared into the street once more.

~~~~~~~~~::~~~~~~~~~

**And they all lived a not-so-normal, crazy, fun, interesting, hard, and a beautiful, happily ever after.**

**THE END! :)**

Mark laughed at the last line. He was sitting out on the fire escape, reading the story that Liz created for him. He was genuinely impressed. She was a great writer, had an insane imagination, and truly cared about how Mark would've wanted the story, therefore, creating a masterpiece of the written word for Mark.

It was about a leading hard cameraman, and his sidekick, the 'beautiful, exotic story-writer' as she so fashionably put it, as they go through life in Alphabet city. Mostly it's about the cameraman's "girlfriend", a sexy, shy, yet loving camerawoman, who happened to love his footage. It's about how they meet and fell in love, and in the end lived 'a not-so-normal, crazy, fun, interesting, hard, and a beautiful, happily ever after'.

Sometimes she mentioned his 'sidekick' (the simply awesome story/ song writer), who just happened to end up with this cameraman's roommate, a rough and tough singer who happened to be a softy underneath.

_What an imagination._ Mark thought as he got up and opened the window. It was mostly silent inside the loft, except for a couple of guitar notes and a couple sung words. Mark came inside, and looked around him. Usually Roger was making a mess in the kitchen, or just staring into space as he sipped on his coffee...but he was nowhere to be found.

Mark followed the guitar notes, which led him to the old, ugly couch in the living room. Roger was sitting there, guitar in his lap, with a paper out in front of him. He looked as if entranced, and he also looked very excited.

Mark looked closer at the paper on the coffee table, and saw they were lyrics. _He's writing a song._ He thought with a grin. And obviously only one woman could've caused this...

_Girls seriously have an impact on Roger._ Mark thought, watching Roger.

"_**We all lead...such elaborate lives...Strange thoughts in our minds...**_No, no, no, that won't work." Roger muttered after playing a few notes on his guitar, sitting up a bit straighter and scratching out a sentence.

"How's the song going?" Mark asked, barely containing his grin. Roger jumped, and instead of getting angry at Mark for scaring him, he gave him a small smile back, and went back to his guitar, "its okay. I can't seem to make the lyrics and the melody mingle. This _sucks_."

"I think it sounds nice," Mark began, and then he smiled as an idea came to him, and he looked at Roger. "I'm not a songwriter or anything, but maybe you should tone down the rock n' roll in the song. Just make it a soft melody." Roger eyes widened, but not in a way that Mark hoped it would. "What? I--I...what?"

Mark just rolled his eyes. "Just a suggestion." Roger sat back, and stared into space again, and Mark went off to the kitchen to start making coffee. When Mark woke up this morning, he went straight to Lizzie's place, not bothering to turn on the coffee, and Roger being the lazy bum in the loft didn't turn it on either.

"Where were you this morning?" Roger finally asked after 10 minutes of silence. "Lizzie's." Everything went silent again, but this time it was an awkward silence. "Lizzie's? You mean Elizabeth's?"

"Ooh, I wouldn't call her that. She hates that." Mark warned, getting two cups from the cupboards. "Really?"

"Yeah, really."

"Huh...Did she say anything about me?" Roger asked, his head peeking up and looking at Mark with hope in his eyes. Mark smiled, "No, but she was fairly happy when I told her that you thought she's wonderful."

"YOU DID _WHAT_?!" Mark laughed, and turned to Roger who was fuming on the couch. "I told her you thought she's wonderful. She thought you're very sweet." Roger groaned, and dug his head into the sofa cushion, muttering something about how stupid he was for telling Mark about Lizzie.

"C'mon, cheer up. From what I got from her, she apparently likes you too." Roger head popped up instantly. "Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Really really?"

"Yes, really really really."

Roger smiled, and hopped up. "I should go and talk to her." Mark shook his head, "Not so fast Casanova." Roger glared at him, and followed his orders. "You'll see her tomorrow, because she agreed to go to that little party we're having with the others."

"Really?"

"Oh my God, Roger. Yes, really!"

"Awesome! ...But wait, I'll have to wait until tomorrow to talk to her." Roger suddenly looked sad as he grabbed his guitar and started to play _Musetta's Waltz_. It was then that Mark got a sudden idea, so he went over to Roger and sat down beside him.

"Hey, you wanna go out for dinner tonight? There's this new restaurant that looks really nice and I've heard the food is just great." Mark asked, looking at Roger curiously. Roger frowned, and turned to him. "Why?"

"Because, you owe me for being late to my party last night." Mark said with a grin. Roger sighed, and turned to him. "Fine, we'll go. Now let me write my song." Roger said, and began playing a melody on the guitar. Mark left to go get coffee, yet Roger's words followed him.

"**Seems quite unbelievable to me...I don't want to live like that...Seems quite unbelievable to me...I don't want to love like that...**do do do dum..."

**Ooh, so**_** why**_** did Mark want to bring Roger to a restaurant? Only one way to find out...read on! BTW, reviews please!! I love reviews, so please press that little green button below and tell me how I'm doing!**

**BTW, I'm thinking of changing the title of my story to Elaborate Lives. Tell me what you think about it okay?**

**To **_**Aida**_** lovers:**** I couldn't help myself okay! I had to add 'Elaborate lives' in my story**


	4. One night in Bangkok

**Yay! One of my favourite songs is in this chapter. I'm so very happy! And I hope you enjoy it too!**

_**Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own **_**Rent**_** or 'One Night in Bangkok', but I do own 4 things; Lizzie, the **_**Stardance**_**, the workaholic boss, and the 'waiter friend', who'll also show up in the following chapters. **_

"Mark, why are we here again?" Roger asked as the two entered the newest bar/restaurant in the East Village. The name? The_ Stardance._ It's quite the bar/restaurant, or that's what the people at Life Support said. It was supposed to be 'a treat to the mouth and the ears'...or that's just what the poster said on the subway. "Because, you owe me dinner. Do you not remember showing up 2 hours late to my birthday party?" Mark said with a smug smirk.

Roger just groaned and glared at him, and they walked over to a table by the window. They sat down and started to look around. It was dark in there, and there weren't many tables. Couples, a group of guys, and older teenagers/very young adults occupied the bar/restaurant.

What interested Roger was the stage in the front. It was large, and had a blue curtain in the back. There was a lone microphone, and a couple of people playing some instruments. _Maybe I could play here some time. _He thought, looking around some more.

Mark looked around, looking for someone specific. _She said she worked here. _Mark thought distractedly. He had thought this was a good idea before, but now he wasn't so sure...what would she say? What would she _do_?

_But I have to do it for Mo._ He thought with a mental groan. He told Mo what he was doing that night as Roger got dressed. She thought it was a great idea, but the horrible thing was...she wanted to help.

She's a part time matchmaker as well as a part time protester.

But Mark refused, telling her it'd be a guy thing. She was upset for awhile, begging and yelling at him, but he held his ground. Finally, after half-an-hour of refusing, she finally stopped arguing and hung up the phone, but not before making Mark promise her to tell her all the juicy details afterward.

Suddenly, a man went onto the stage. He was kind of big bellied, and had a small moustache. He looked like a hardworking man, who rarely did anything else but work (obviously though work was behind a desk, according to his size). He wasn't wearing anything fancy, just a tie, white shirt, and dressy pants.

"Hello everyone, and welcome to The _Stardance_. I'm the manager of this homey restaurant, and I hope you enjoy it here as well as I do. Now, everyone put your hands together, because I would like to introduce you to one of our most energetic flowers-Lizzie Harper!"

Both of the men's eyes looked up the moment they heard the name. Then suddenly, Lizzie came out, with a large smile on her face. She was wearing a short, red sparkly dress and she was wearing her black combat boots. She was obviously wearing makeup, and Roger didn't like that at all. _But all-in-all, she's gorgeous._ Roger thought looking at her in shock.

She looked totally different from when he saw her last. She was less like the small little blue eyed girl and more like the sexy woman. _Interesting..._

And then she opened her mouth.

"_**Bangkok,  
Oriental setting  
And the city don't know that the city is getting-"**_

Roger stared in even more shock. He didn't know she could sing _that_ well. He thought that little thing on the fire escape last night was all he was going to hear from her..._but I guess I'm wrong!_ He thought, staring at the stage. And boy can she _sing!_

"_**The crème de la crème of the chess world in a  
Show with everything but Yul Brynner."**_

Mark had a grin on his face. She was a very good singer, not just 'pretty good' like she told him. She was at the micro now, smiling and moving in time with the music that suddenly erupted from the band. Mark liked this performer Lizzie. She was confident and interesting, and he can tell that even though he hasn't even heard the whole song.

"_**Time flies -- doesn't seem a minute  
Since the Tirolean spa had the chess boys in it  
All change -- don't you know that when you  
Play at this level there's no ordinary venue."**_

Lizzie sang with a grin on her face, and the man was right when he said she was energetic. She was obviously happy when on the stage, and she was definitely enjoying herself.

"_**It's Iceland -- or the Philippines -- or Hastings --  
or this place!" **_

Lizzie put out her arms, indicating 'this place' as...this place. She laughed as she went into the chorus.

"_**One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster  
The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free  
You'll find a god in every golden cloister  
And if you're lucky then the god's a she  
I can feel an angel sliding up to me!"**_

Lizzie sang, taking the microphone off the stand and sitting down onto the stage. As she sang the chorus she sang along with some waitresses and waiters distributed around the room. They seemed to be enjoying themselves as well, because they were smiling and grooving along with her.

"_**One town's very like another  
When your head's down over your pieces, brother!" **_

Lizzie sang with a laugh, jumping off the stage and looking around herself at her crowd. The other people in the restaurant seemed be enjoying themselves as well, as they watched with smiles on their faces.

"_**It's a drag, it's a bore, it's really such a pity  
To be looking at the board, not looking at the city" **_

The waiter/tresses sang as Lizzie just watched. Looks like the waiter/tresses would be a part of this song too.

"_**Waddya mean? You seen one crowded, polluted, stinking town you –"**_

Lizzie sang, walking confidently over to one of the waiters. He had brown hair that was down to his ears, and brown eyes that sparkled at Lizzie. It was obvious to everyone in the room that the two were friends.

"_**Tea, girls, warm, sweet  
Some are set up in the Somerset Maugham suite"**_

The waiter/tresses sang, the one waiter friend that Lizzie was in front of swaying his hips and acting as if he was singing to her.

"_**Get Thai'd! You're talking to a tourist  
Whose every move's among the purest"**_

Lizzie grinned, winking at the room. They all laughed, excluding Roger, who was still reeling in shock that she sang. Then Lizzie did the most outrageous thing...she grabbed onto the waiter friend's waistline of his fancy pants, and slightly pulled it towards herself.

"_**I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine"**_

She sang, winking at her waiter friend. The waiter friend just rolled his eyes at her.

"_**One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble  
Not much between despair and ecstasy  
One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble  
Can't be too careful with your company  
I can feel the devil walking next to me"**_

This time, Lizzie sang with her fellow waiter/tresses, her voice ruling over them easily. Her voice was so unique that you could probably pick her voice out of 50 voices singing as one. Then she turned around and starting walking around the room, spinning, winking, and laughing with everybody. The band solo began, and Lizzie just took her time strutting around the room, making a scene. And then it happened...

She saw the two men. Confusion and shock filled her eyes, and for a second both Roger and Mark regretted going to the restaurant. But then, she found her cool again, and she started walking over to them with a grin on her face. She went up to them, and messed up Mark's hair playfully, and then the solo was over, and she began singing once more.

"_**Siam's gonna be the witness  
To the ultimate test of cerebral fitness  
This grips me more than would a  
Muddy old river or reclining Buddha-"**_

With that Lizzie jumped on top of the empty table, and sat there swinging her legs. She looked at Mark as she sang again.

"_**And thank God I'm only watching the game -- controlling it –"**_

Then she looked towards the crowd. She was clearly having fun.

"_**I don't see you guys rating  
The kind of mate I'm contemplating"**_

Lizzie then looked over at Roger, and turned so she was facing him completely, and sang to him,

"_**I'd let you watch, I would invite you  
But the queens we use would not excite you"**_

Mark smiled as Lizzie slipped off the table, and started to walk away from them, but before she was away from them completely, she turned her body was she was walking backwards, and began to sing,

"_**So you better go back to your bars, your temples, your massage  
parlours –"**_

_Yeah, like we could afford that._ Roger thought staring at Lizzie as she turned again with an impish grin on her face. He was kind of surprised that she actually walked over to their table, since he yelled at her last night for no reason at all. _Hopefully she's forgiven me._ He thought as she walked away.

"_**One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster  
The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free  
You'll find a god in every golden cloister  
A little flesh, a little history  
I can feel an angel sliding up to me"**_

Lizzie sang, dancing around with the waiter/tresses. She was purely enjoying herself, and adrenaline pumped through her body as she sang. That's why she loved singing...the pure thrill of it made it addictive.

"_**One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble  
Not much between despair and ecstasy"**_

The waiter/tresses had joined in by now, and they seemed to be enjoying themselves as well as she was. She made her way back to the stage and put the microphone back on the stand. She kind of liked being free to dance and sing off the stage, but she figured she's have a better finish if she got back onto the stage.

"_**One night in Bangkok as the tough guys tumble  
Can't be too careful with your company  
I can feel the devil walking next to me!" **_

Lizzie sang, her voice rising easily above the rest. She raised her arm above her head and closed her eyes, a habit that she has had ever since she was a little girl. The moment the last note was done reverberating around the room, clapping quickly claimed its place. Lizzie opened her eyes and grinned, and quickly bowed.

"Thank you NYC for coming to The _Stardance_. And thank you for listening! Good night!" Lizzie cried into the microphone, and then quickly dispersed off the stage. Roger stared as she left the stage. _She's a great performer._ Roger thought, as she left.

"Man, wasn't she _awesome_?" Mark asked, visibly excited. Roger laughed and grinned at his friend, "Yes, yes she was."


	5. BFF's and nervousness

**Okay, this is where you meet Lizzie's best friend, and you witness some Roger/Mark friendship. I'm eh with this chapter. It was okay...anyway, continue!**

The moment Lizzie stepped out of the changing room; she was enveloped in a hug. She instantly knew who it was.

"Nate, why are you hugging me so much? My top will ride up! " Lizzie asked the guy who was hugging her. She was now wearing (instead of that red dress that George had insisted that she wear) she was wearing black pants that were too small, and a peasant top she got for her birthday from Nate. It kind of sucked, but she didn't have any money for more clothes.

_Which sucks ass._

But, Nate did sometimes give her his clothes, despite the fact they're guys clothes. It's better than nothing at all...Nate's her BFFL, her best friend. He's the peanut butter to her jelly, M to her M, pen to her paper...the list goes on and on. He knew absolutely everything about her, and she knew everything about him. They were a pair, and they had something that the world rarely saw.

True friendship.

"You were awesome Liz-Biz." Nate said with a laugh, letting her go. Lizzie smiled at him; Liz-Biz was what he called her at work, ever since she got her own solo routine all to herself. "Thanks, Nate. I enjoyed myself out there...hey, did you see that blond haired guy at the table I sat on?" she asked him as they linked arms.

"Oh! That cute one with the blue-green eyes?" Nate asked, looking at her curiously.

"Yep, that guy. And do you remember that gorgeous guy I was telling you about before work? The one that yelled at me after inviting me up to Mark's birthday?" Lizzie asked, looking at her friend.

"Yeah-OH MY _GOD_! _That_ was _HIM_?" Nate cried, shocked.

"Yep. What do you think of him?" Lizzie asked, looking at her friend.

"Hmm...well, he looks sweet, but that doesn't mean he is, he looks gorgeous, I mean you don't see guys that cute everyday," Nate said with a grin, and Lizzie grinned back at him. Nate and her always discussed boys...it was one of their things. Ever since Lizzie found out that Nate was gay, she made herself discuss every guy she considered dating with him. He was her good luck charm.

"He sounds like a gentleman for the most part, but it looks like he has quite a quick temper, so you have to be careful about that. But overall, it seems like a good matchup."

"Really?" Lizzie asked, curious. Nate has always been good at reading people, and from Mark's account of him, Nate hit the spot. Sometimes she wondered if Nate could read people's thoughts or aura's or _something_.

"Yeah...he seems cool. He won't be like you know who, I can tell you that," Nate didn't notice Liz's grimace at the mention of 'you know who', "Plus, he's friends with that _other_ guy you were telling me about, Mark, who seems even_ more_ sweet, so I'm guessing that he wouldn't be friends with an ass..." Lizzie burst out laughing, leaning on Nate. She was also quite relieved that her friend approved of Roger...for the most part. Nate laughed with her as well.

"Lizzie! Nate! Get back to work. Nate, your table is waiting for you to deliver their food. Liz, you have a new table waiting for you. Get to work!" Lizzie's and Nate's boss suddenly called out from another room. Lizzie made a face towards where the voice was coming from, and Nate just laughed t her.

"C'mon, sexy. We gotta get to work before George **(A/N The boss)** feels the sudden need to fire someone." Nate said with a grin, and the two left the changing room, arms still linked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~::~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Jeanie! Who am I serving tonight?" Lizzie asked, running up to the girl who was at the front of the restaurant. She usually had the map of the restaurant that showed the tables she'd be serving. It was an ever changing map, so Liz had no idea who'd she would be serving tonight.

Jeanie turned around, startled. She was a nice girl, with black short hair and blue dyed bangs. She wore red rimmed glasses with a spazzy sense of fashion. Lizzie overall liked her.

"Oh...yeah. All your tables are empty..._but _there are these guys who asked for you personally, and they _insisted_ on you. I asked George about it, and he said to make you serve them. Sorry honey." Jeanie said, giving a small sad pout.

Two guys? _Personally_?

_Mark and Roger!_

Lizzie still didn't know how she felt about Mark and Roger coming to the restaurant. She was happy to see Mark...but with Roger...she didn't know what she was feeling. She was happy yet scared that's he'd yell yet nervous over the fact that Roger might hate her. So many emotions at one time, and she couldn't show them through her singing.

_That's why Nate thinks I'm such an actress._

"Which table?" Lizzie asked, a little too quickly. Jean looked a little shocked at the outburst, but instantly showed her which table. It was one of the better tables; near the window, with a colourful lamp hanging above.

And they were, not talking, not doing anything at all...just sitting there, patiently waiting for someone to serve them...who they expected to be Lizzie.

"What are they doing here?" she hissed, fighting the urge to hide behind Jean.

"You know 'em?" Jean asked, frowning.

"Yeah. They live in my building...why did I tell Mark I work here?...Don't answer that Jeanie!" Lizzie cried when she noticed that Jeanie opened her mouth to answer. "O-Okay." Jeanie answered, and looked down at the floor. Lizzie just rolled her eyes; life was one big guilt trip with Jeanie. "Sorry, okay," Lizzie said with a sigh, and she tied her apron on tightly around her waist, "I guess I gotta go serve 'em."

"Yep. Or George will have a hissy fit." Jeanie had with a grin. Lizzie gave a small laugh. "Yeah, that's for sure." She answered, remembering the one time in which Lizzie was late for work and another waitress had to take her place. George yelled at her for an hour, and he had deducted $50 off her next pay.

Not a good thing.

Lizzie sighed, preparing herself for whatever may come, and then walked over there, menus in hand. The moment she neared the table, Mark looked up, and gave her a smile. He whispered something to Roger, and he followed Mark's lead. He gave her a small smile, and then locked eyes with her.

_Those blue-green eyes..._

Lizzie made herself snap back into reality after finally getting to their table. "Hello boys." Lizzie said with an award winning smile. "Hey Lizzie." Both men said back, smiling right back at her. She looked at Roger with a raised eyebrow.

"Lizzie? Did I give you permission to call me Lizzie?" she asked.

Roger blushed, his head going down. Lizzie could barely catch the apology coming from his mouth. Lizzie smiled and said, "Its okay. Everyone calls me Lizzie. I don't expect my friend's rude roommate to call me any different." Lizzie purposely emphasized the word _'rude'_.

She couldn't help herself; he was truly rude the other night. And now he just comes waltzing into her restaurant-

Roger's head went up, and looked at Lizzie with a little shock and wonderment in his eyes. _Don't expect me to be a little nice girl when you're rude to me...I've done that before, and I ain't gonna do it again._

"Look, about that. I'm sorry—I blew—I-I lost it...I didn't mean to hurt-"

"Thanks for apologizing...I've forgiven yah already...you know the saying: Forgive and forget. Now, what do you two want to eat?" _Forgive but _never_ forget, really. _

Roger looked relieved, yet he looked shocked, as if not expecting her to be so forgiving. Lizzie just shrugged, and awaited their answer.

Roger was relieved that Lizzie had forgiven him...and didn't have that make up on any more. Sure, she was still pretty with makeup on, but she was pretty much _way_ to gorgeous to have makeup on. She didn't need it.

Why waste good makeup when you could give it for free to the less pretty girls?

Mark and Roger looked at each other, and then Mark whispered, "Wine." Roger grinned. "And beer."

Lizzie laughed, and committed that order to memory. "Anything else? Food? _Juice_?" This time the boys laughed.

"No thanks. I guess we'll have a couple of slices of pizza." Mark said with a shrug.

"Kind?" Lizzie asked, biting back a sarcastic remark.

"Everything." Roger said.

"Okay then. Your food will be over in...15 minutes I say." Lizzie said with a smile, and began to walk away towards Jeanie. "Wait!" Roger grabbed Lizzie's bare forearm just as she was about to walk away.

"What?" Lizzie asked irritably. She had to get back to work, or she's get in shit from her boss.

"Why don't you stay a bit? Chat with us? It doesn't seem like you have any more tables." Roger asked, looking around. "Oh yeah? Well, if it looks like I'm not busy, he will give me something to do!" Lizzie hissed, pulling her forearm from Roger's grasp.

"Oh...well off you go then!" Mark cried back, waving her off.

"Planning on it." Lizzie said, turning once again.

"Wait!"

Lizzie groaned, and faced Roger once again. But this time he was standing quite near her. "What?" she whisper/yelled. "Hey, would maybe-I mean do you want to-maybe, if you want to-"Roger stuttered as Lizzie faced him with her hands on her hips and a raised eyebrow.

"HARPER!" someone suddenly called. Lizzie practically jumped, and turned around again. "Coming George!" she cried back, and turned back to Roger. "Sorry, I have to go." She said, excusing herself.

Roger sighed and hung his head. He was _so close_! If only he stopped stuttering...and only if that stupid boss of hers didn't call her over. Roger walked sullenly back to Mark and his table, and sat down with a groan.

Mark was laughing behind his hand. "So, how'd it go?" Mark laughed, trying to hide it. Roger looked at him with a glare, and started to play with his napkin. "I got nervous."

"Roger? Nervous? The famous, heart-breaking, forward, the-man-that-won-over-a-stripper-from-The-Cat-Scratch-club-without-even-trying was nervous about asking a girl out? Oh, the scandal!" Mark cried dramatically, biting back laughter.

"Yes, Mark. I. Was. Nervous!" Roger cried through clenched teeth. Mark just laughed, and they both waited for Lizzie to return with their food.


	6. Date? Date!

_**Disclaimer: I own George (the workaholic boss), Nate, and Lizzie. Do not own**_** Rent**

"Here yah go guys!" Lizzie cried, coming over with a pizza and two beers. Both Roger and Mark looked up, Mark still smiling from Roger's nervousness from before. _He must _really_ like her._ He thought as Lizzie put the pizza on their table. He looked over at Roger, and he was staring at her with a look that Mark hasn't seen in awhile. He looked...happy.

"One pizza with _everything_ on it, and two beers. We only give wine to our _special_ costumers." Lizzie said with a laugh. "Oh really? We're not special?" Mark asked, giving a small pout. "That's right." Lizzie said, as if taking at a baby.

"Hello! I'm a director in the making!"

"And I'm a famous singer in the making!" Roger cried.

"Boys, the highlighted parts of your sentence: _In the making_!"

The men just rolled their eyes at her. "Okay, guys. Have to get back to work." Lizzie said wiping her hands off her apron and turning to walk away again.

Mark gave Roger a look, seeming to say, _Aren't you going to attempt ask her?_

Roger just shook his head, suddenly nervous at the thought. Mark just shook his head, and leaned back in his seat.

_That means he's going to want to talk...Shit. _Roger thought. "Bye boys." Lizzie said with a smile, and left the two men alone.

"Okay, so you didn't ask her out _why_?" Mark asked, crossing his arms and leaning back. He really wanted Roger to ask her out, because 1, they'd be perfect together, 2, their crushes on each other would be out in the open. It would really help if it was out in the open...

"I don't know." Roger moaned, setting his forehead on the table. Mark was slightly shocked. He's never seen Roger this way.

Even in high school Roger was a lady's man. Roger was never scared to speak to a girl, especially before meeting April. Hell, he practically got one phone number a night...well, it probably helped to be in a band and be able to sing and play guitar.

But now...

Roger was a shy dork. _Like me. _Mark thought amusedly. He was a stutterbug, a shy guy, a scaredy cat. _Ha ha._ Mark thought. "Are you saying-"Mark began in all his glory, but then Roger looked up at him with a glare that shut him up instantly.

"Yes, Mark, I'm _nervous_. Give me a break...it's not like you aren't a chicken shit when it comes to asking girls out." Roger said, putting his head back down on the table. Mark just shrugged, and grabbed a piece of pizza.

"Yeah, but remember, it looks cute on me. With you it's just...weird."

Roger sighed, and finally grabbed a piece of pizza. He was paying for it, so might as well enjoy it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~::~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Nate!"

Nate turned around quickly to see Lizzie running towards him. "What is it chica?" the Latino asked. He was talking with Jeanie, who was looking bored and in desperate need to do something. That was probably because there were barely any people at the restaurant that day.

"Do I look funny?"

The Latino covered his mouth to keep from laughing. Of all people, she was the only one that would phrase that question that way. Most people asked if they looked okay, or if they're makeup was on right.

Not Lizzie.

Lizzie asked everything in her own special way, even if it sounded funny or wrong. It was a cute twist on her personality really.

"No, babe, you look perfectly fine. What's up with you?" Nate asked.

"Well, Roger was looking at me funny..."

"Maybe he...thinks you're pretty?"

"No, he looked like he wanted to tell me something...but he chickened out before he could say anything—"

"HARPER!" Lizzie quickly turned around, and found herself face to face with George. "Yes, Boss?" Lizzie asked, backing away just a little bit towards Nate. "You're working double shifts tonight."

"What?" Lizzie asked, disbelieving.

"You heard me. Lexie had to leave, which leaves only _you_." George said as if talking to a child.

Lizzie's mouth fell open. No way! He _did not_ just give her _another_ shift! He gave her double shift _last night_, and now he was doing it again? No. _Way!_ "Just hold on a second sir! I can't!"

"And why not, Harper?"

"I-I-I-I..."

"That's what I thought. Get back to work Harper, and don't let me catch you dilly-dallying."

And with that George turned around. Feeling particularly angry, she flipped the bird to his back, and Nate couldn't help but started laughing. Lizzie followed, and soon enough they were laughing so much that they couldn't breathe. "God, you're such a bad ass." Nate said with a laugh.

"I know." Lizzie said, but then a sobering thought entered her mind. Nate instantly noticed her change in mood and asked her what was the matter. "I have to walk home alone."

"I can walk you."

"No, I'm not going to keep you here longer then you need to. It's okay." Nate was about to counter back with a sarcastic comment, when Jeanie called his name.

"This isn't over." He whispered before walking away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~::~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Fine! I'll try again." Roger muttered, drinking the rest of his beer. Mark insisted he needed some muscles, even if it was beer muscles.

Of course, Mark forgot that you have to be drunk to have beer muscles.

But Roger drank anyway, hoping he'd gain enough courage to ask her out when she came back. He really did want to...ask her out of course. But he couldn't seem to get any courage. It confused him greatly, because he has _never_ felt this way before. He's never felt nervous around a girl. It's just not him. But Lizzie...

_She's different._

And Roger didn't know if it was a good different or a bad different.

"Hi boys!"

Roger practically jumped out of his skin as said girl came over. Her hair's messy, and there's dirt on her apron, but Roger still found her gorgeous.

Mark put a hand on his mouth, and pretended to cough. But Roger really knew what he was doing. He was laughing at Roger's surprise. Roger just shot him a quick glare before turning to look at Lizzie. "I see you were hungry." She commented as she walked over with a smile.

"Yeah. We don't have a lot of food in the house." Mark said with a shrug, still cradling his beer. "Really? No wonder you're so skinny you two." Lizzie said, giving them a smirk but with a hint of concern in her eyes. "Yeah...Oh well, it's better than having no home." Roger said with a shrug, looking down at the table. "True enough...okay, is there anything you two boys want? And hurry with it cuz my boss _will_ give me shit like he did...half an hour ago." She said, faking a smile. "Nothing for me, though Roger might want something." Mark said with a smile, raising his eyebrows suggestively. Roger's eyes widened, and for the first time in his life he wanted to_ kill_ Mark. Absolutely, positively, put him in his grave.

"Really? What'd yah like Rog?" Lizzie asked, looking expectantly at him, missing the look shared in between the two men.

Roger looked in between Lizzie, Mark, then Lizzie again. What should he say? Just ask her out? Go to the movies? He couldn't afford that. The _Life_? They'd have to borrow money off of Collins...

"Um...well, maybe..." After not talking for more than 4 minutes Mark interjected, "So how long you working tonight?" He looked at Roger with a roll of his eyes, disbelief of Roger's nervousness clearly in his eyes. Lizzie groaned, and looked up at the ceiling.

"What is it?" Mark asked concern in his voice. "My stupid boss is giving me_ 2_ freaking shifts tonight, and I probably won't get home until 2."

"_A.m.?_" Roger asked, shocked.

"Yep. Yippee for me, huh? But that's not the only thing that sucks...I have to walk home all by myself tonight." Lizzie sighed, and Roger noticed the fear in her eyes at the thought. Before a rational thought even entered his mind, Roger blurted, "I can walk you home."

Lizzie and Mark just stared at him for a second, before asking "What?"

"Yeah. I can...wait up I guess. I can drink a bit, or relax outside. I could sit at the bar...Mark can walk home," Roger said, giving Mark a look that said, _And you have no choice _but_ to do this_, "and it might be fun." Roger finished with a shrug.

Lizzie put her finger on her chin, and contemplated it. She wouldn't mind hanging out with him a bit longer, and get to know him and all that. But how about if he...no, no, no...He wouldn't do _that_, would he? Mark wouldn't be friends with a..._no no NO! No more thinking about that! _She thought, chastising herself.

How about if he got mad at her again? Would he be cruel? Would he ditch her out of anger? _If he does that, I'll never look at his face again..._

"Sure."

Roger smiled in relief, and he said warmly, "Awesome." He looked so happy that Lizzie couldn't help but smile, and for a minute the two people basked in their happiness. Until Mark coughed, and Lizzie blinked quickly.

"I-I better get to work." Lizzie stuttered, gave them a small smile, and zoomed away. Mark gave Roger a smile, and Roger smiled back. He had just got himself a date.

**R&R people! **


	7. 20 statements and some Caffine

_**Disclaimer: I own Caffeine (Casey), the game '20 statements', Eric, Nate, and finally Lizzie.**_

"Liz...Liz!"

Lizzie jumped, and sat up. She had closed her eyes for just a second, and then...crap! She fell asleep. With her head on the table in front of her no less. She _was_ cleaning the tables, but she decided to sit down for a second because she was practically falling asleep on her feet. It went from a second to a minute, then a minute to 5, then 5 to 10, and that's when she fell asleep.

Bugger

When she looked around her, she realized that the person who woke her up was Casey, a nice African-American girl who was also a struggling artist like everyone else who worked here. She was a painter, and she was quite nice, but too quiet for Nate and Lizzie's taste. So, the two were just acquaintances and occasionally friends. Nothing more.

"Hey. Welcome back to the world of the workers." Casey said with a smile.

Lizzie smiled back more than a little tired. Really, all she wanted was to get home..._Roger!_ Lizzie looked over at the bar, where she last saw him, but no one was there, just the bored looking bartender Derek. _He left._ Lizzie realized, and became unbelievably sad. _Oh well...not like I didn't expect it..._

"What time is it, Caffeine?" Lizzie croaked, rubbing her eyes. Casey smiled at the nickname; it was a private joke between the two. You see, Casey was famous for drinking coffee...she brought it to work, got it with lunch, and secretly took sips when George wasn't looking. As Nate put it, she was a 'coffaholic'.

"It's 2. That's why I woke you up. Your shift is over, Sweettooth." Lizzie grinned at not only the nickname (Lizzie was known for stealing cookies from the restaurant when "no one's" looking), but at the fact that she was finally _leaving_.

"Thanks Caffeine! I'm gonna go get ready!" Lizzie cried, and ran to the back, with Casey rolling her eyes at her direction.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~::~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lizzie stepped out of the restaurant with a sigh. She was back in her tattered clothes (George insisted that she was to wear her "best" clothes at the restaurant), and she was quite cold. Her jean jacket was barely warming her, and it didn't help she was wearing pants with large holes in them. _I should take them to Nate's one of these days._

Nate was shocked when he heard that Roger asked Lizzie if he could walk her home. He was also happy, because he wouldn't have to take her home...but he tried to hide that from Lizzie, because he didn't want to make her feel bad for him having to walk her home because she was too scared to...But, because Lizzie knew him so well, she knew that he had to be slightly happy. He just had to. And Lizzie didn't mind.

Lizzie walked briskly, her arms clutched around her tiny waist. Man, she was going to kill Roger tomorrow, no joke—

A noise, behind her...Lizzie gasped, but quickly kept walking, her hand inching towards her purse. _God, I hope I brought it_-

Lizzie smiled as she felt the blade she had been looking for. _If it's Eric I swear to God I'll stab the mother—_

More noise...Footsteps following her. Lizzie made herself stare straight ahead. God, she hoped the person didn't hurt her..._please let him not hurt me, please let him not hurt me—_

"Lizzie!"

Lizzie gasped, and quickly turned therefore pulling out her blade from her purse. The knife glinted in the moonlight, and was just waiting to be used—

What she saw shocked her.

Instead of some crazed homeless man, or the son of a bitch that was called _'Eric'_ she saw someone else. It was the rocker that she assumed had left. It was the blue-green eyed rock star that was supposed to be safe in his bed by now. The rock star that had waited for her after all...The rock star that was staring at her knife in shock.

Lizzie quickly thrust her knife back in her purse, and glared at Roger for scaring her like that. Roger came forward a little hesitantly. "Hey." He whispered when he was finally near her. She refused to back away from him, no matter how afraid she was.

"Hey." She finally whispered back, pushing the bangs away that were suddenly in front of her eyes. "You okay?" Roger asked hesitantly. "Yeah...What're doing here?" Liz asked, avoiding the explanation that Roger wanted all together.

"I told you I'd be walking you home." Roger said, as if it was obvious. "But I thought you left." She asked with a frown. "Why would I leave?" Roger asked, sounding confused. "Well...when I didn't see you at the bar I assumed..."

"I came out for a smoke. Since you were sleeping and all." Roger said with a grin, and Lizzie just frowned at him. "I'm tired! Never laugh at a tired person." She growled, yet somewhat amused. "Okay, okay!" Roger laughed, started to walk away backwards. "RAWR!" Lizzie screeched, and before Roger knew it he had a Lizzie on his back.

Roger instinctively grabbed Lizzie legs to keep her on like he used to do with Mimi, and then he began to twirl her around with a laugh. And Roger was very happy over the fact that Lizzie was laughing too.

This is the first time in a long time that the two people were truly happy. First time in a long time that they could actually forget the world, and just have _fun_.

It was five minutes later when they were both getting dizzy did he stop and let her down. "Thank you for the ride." Lizzie said with a laugh, straightening her meagre jacket. "Welcome." Roger said with a smile, and began to walk forward. "Wait up!" Lizzie called before finally catching up with him.

"Fine." Roger smirked, putting his hands in his leather jacket. He let Liz catch up, and began walking again when she finally caught up. Roger noticed that she was slightly shaking, out of fear or lack of warmth he didn't know.

But he suspected that it was the latter, because she had her thin arms wrapped around her small torso.

"Here." Roger finally said, taking off his leather jacket with some hesitation. He never let _anyone_ else wear his jacket, and the only time he did Mimi had ripped the sleeve. Roger didn't talk to her for a full day.

"What...I c-couldn't possib-bly...I mean, I-it's cold. You n-need it." Lizzie stuttered, bringing her arms tighter around herself. Despite the fact that the jacket looked very _tempting_, too tempting for her own good, she knew it was a bad idea. _I mean, it's a horrible idea since Roger could get sick or something..._

"C'mon. Your cold, I'm boiling. So, you and my infamous leather jacket seem like a fine match right about now." Roger said with a smile, pushing the jacket at her a bit farther.

Lizzie sighed. Well it was _cold_, and Roger couldn't get too sick in just 10 minutes right? Groaning, Lizzie grabbed the jacket from Roger (earning a wide grin), and wrapped the "infamous leather jacket" around her shoulders. She sighed happily as she felt its warmth. She grinned, and did a little spin. Roger laughed at her, tucking his hands in his jeans.

For a couple minutes it was silent, and the only things they heard were the natural 'bad neighbourhood' noises that everyone heard. But not for long.

"Tell me about yourself." Roger suddenly asked.

"What?" Lizzie asked, frowning.

"Tell me about yourself...please?"

"But how about if I want to get to know you?" Lizzie asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Well then...you'll have to wait until tomorrow." Roger said with a grin. Lizzie scoffed, "Yeah, okay...one of the things you're going to learn about me is that I'm _very_ impatient." Lizzie said crossing her arms with a small pout fixated on her face. It was then that an idea hit Lizzie...she suddenly remembered the 20 question game as child which lead her to—

"Eureka!" Lizzie screeched just as Roger opened his mouth to say something.

Roger looked at her questioningly, tilting his head to the side. "I got an idea that'll resolve both of our problems," Roger seemed to like that idea, so he urged her on, "We'll play '20 questions'...or '20 statements'...something along those lines. I haven't made up a title yet. We'll exchange 20 things about each other for things about each other. Good idea no?" Lizzie asked a little hop in her step. Roger kind of liked the idea, and he nodded. He couldn't wait to find out more about this girl, who was a very big mystery to him.

"Okay, you go first." Roger said, shrugging. "Nuh uh! It's not fair. _You_ go first. Everyone knows that the person who makes up the idea doesn't go first!" Lizzie cried, crossing her arms. "Who says?" Roger asked, crossing his arms in the same matter.

"I-I-I...The big book of not-well-known rules does!" she sputtered. Roger laughed, and shook his head. "Fine. I know it must mean something to you if you're going to make stuff up." Roger said with a roll of his eyes. Liz smiled happily, and looked at Roger expectantly.

"Okay...I live with Mark." Roger said with a grin. "Hey! That's _so _not fair. You have to tell me something I don't know!" Lizzie exclaimed.

"Let me guess...that's a rule from the big book of not-well-known rules isn't it?"

"Oh, just tell me something I don't know!"

"Fine...I..."

**What **_**shall **_**he say? You'll find out next chapter! :)**


	8. All summer long

_**Disclaimer: I own Lizzie, Eric, and Roger lol No, I don't own Roger. I wish I did though! :)**_

"I...play the guitar." Roger finally said with a shrug. He honestly couldn't think of something to tell her. Her game was harder then he thought it would be.

"I figured as much since I saw your guitar yesterday as we were climbing the stairs. But I'll let that one slide. Hmm...I can play a bit of the piano." Lizzie said, hugging her arms around herself. "Really?" Roger asked, raising his eyebrows. "Yeah, my grandmother insisted that I do when I was 7, despite the fact I didn't want to. I didn't expect to fall in love with it. But then I stopped playing when I graduated." Lizzie said, staring straight ahead.

"Interesting. Why'd yah stop?"

"Don't try to distract me. Your turn." Lizzie said crossing her arms.

"Fine. I'm not close with my family." Roger said grumpily.

"One thing we have in common. I'm not close with mine either." Lizzie said, suddenly looking sad but quickly hid it. But Roger didn't miss it. He wanted to question her about it, but decided that he didn't want to tick her off. So, instead he whispered, "Your turn."

"I already went!" Lizzie exclaimed.

"No you didn't!"

"Yes I did! I told you I'm not close with my family!"

"That doesn't count!" Roger cried.

"It _so _does." Lizzie cried back.

"Ugh, fine. I...have my own band." Roger sighed, looking up at the sky. _What do I say?_ He asked Angel, wishing she could answer. She'd probably have an answer.

"Cool. I wish I did, but sadly I don't. Um...do do do...I want to be a songwriter." Roger's eyebrows rose, and he looked surprised. "Yeah, I do. I want to be a famous songwriter, and hell, maybe even to be able to sing my own songs."

"That's...awesome. I'm lucky to even be able to get enough inspiration to write my own songs." Roger said, smiling at her.

"Well, then. We make an awesome pair," Lizzie said, and then her eyes widened, "I mean, oh God, I didn't mean it like _that_—I mean—" Lizzie was cut off my Roger's booming laughter. She blushed, and looked down at her hands.

"Relax Liz. Not a big deal. Now, what else shall I tell you?...I love to sing, even though I suck at writing songs."

"Well, I like singing as well, though I'm pretty good at writing songs."

"Really? What have you written?"

"Around...50 songs?" Lizzie lied. Really, it was more like 92. But Roger didn't need to know that.

"Holy crap! That's more than I've ever written!" Roger cried, astonished.

"Most of them are random. A lot of them aren't even good."

"Still, that's a pretty good amount."

"Okay, okay, enough with the talking. More facts!" Lizzie cried, waving her arms.

Roger laughed at her, and then continued, "I'm 24."

Lizzie looked at him curiously, and said, "I'm 20."

Roger looked shocked. His mouth was slightly hanging open and his eyes betrayed some relief. _Probably because he wouldn't be put in jail if he had sex with me._

"Yes, I know I look like I'm 17, but I'm really 20."

"Interesting...I love my job." Roger shrugged.

"My social butterfly comes out when I'm at work, despite the fact I hate my job." Lizzie said, looking around herself.

"_Really?_ I had _no_ idea." Roger said sarcastically. Lizzie frowned at him before muttering, "Your turn."

"I don't make a lot of money from my job." Roger sighed, hoping he hadn't made her angry with his last comment.

"Really? I'm _rich_." She sarcastically replied, and Roger just chuckled. She smiled at him, and whispered, "No, I'm not rich. Though I wish I was. No...I love to write stories as much as I love writing songs."

"Cool. I heard you wrote a story for Mark for his birthday, but he refused to let me read it."

_Thank God._ Lizzie thought. Roger's not very bright, but he's certainly not stupid, and he'd probably figure out the connection between himself and the leading hard cameraman's "roommate". _Imagine how embarrassing that would be! _Lizzie cringed at the thought.

"I suggest you don't."

"Why not?" Roger asked, frowning.

"I-I-I...Can we move on _please_?"

"Fine...I don't have a lot of friends."

It was Liz's turn to frown. "Whaddya mean? Mark talks to me about your friends all the time."

"Yeah...we used to have a lot of friends. But...we all seemed to drift apart. That's why we're all having a get together tomorrow."

"Good idea."

"It was Mark who thought it up. Now, tell me your fact." Roger said with a shrug.

Lizzie sighed, and looked down sadly. She didn't really want to say something so personal, but she felt she had to do it...if she opened up, maybe he would too.

"I lost one of my best friends 7 months ago."

Silence met Lizzie. She looked up at Roger from the corner of her eye, and she saw there was something in his eyes...sympathy and sadness.

"Me too...Though it was actually 8 months for me. He...she died from AIDS." Roger sighed, looking down. Despite the fact that it's been more than half a year, doesn't make it any easier when Roger thought about Angel. Angel had become one of his best friends in the time he had known her. It hurt him deeply when she died.

"I'm so sorry..." Lizzie whispered, tears in her eyes. Was her friend and his friend up in heaven right now, looking down at the two of them?

"It's alright. It was her time. How about you?"

"His name was Sam. He was walking across the street to meet me at some Cafe downtown, when some asshole decided to run through a red light. Sam never saw it coming. He was hit by the guy, who was drunk by the way, and he died on impact." Lizzie whispered, trying to keep her tears from falling. _Enough tears have been cried over him. He wouldn't want you crying now. _"I'm really sorry. Stupid asshole." Roger growled, scuffing the ground with his boot. "I know. Believe me I wanted to kill the guy. But Nate," Roger looked at her questioningly, "my other best friend held me back."

"Hmm...Tough stuff, eh?" Roger asked.

"I thought only Canadians said eh." Lizzie chuckled, thankful for the change in subject.

"Nope. This little American guy does too." Roger chuckled, looking at Lizzie as she blinked rapidly **(A/N BTW, us Canadians DO NOT say eh! Well, some of us do, but the majority of us do not. The only reason I added that was because they needed an ice breaker).**

"Okay, enough with the death. Another fact about me...I only own 6 outfits." Roger said.

"Well, when I actually_ do _become rich, I'll have to take you out shopping."

"It's a date." Roger said with a smile.

"Okay um...I secretly enjoy dancing."

Roger froze. Mimi..._No no no, no thinking of her! You're with Lizzie now...forget Mimi._

"Really?" Roger asked, practically choking on the air around him.

"Yeah. Sam taught me how to dance. I can break dance, tango, salsa...That's about it." Lizzie said, ticking off her fingers.

"I hate cucumbers." Roger said randomly to change the subject.

"I _hate_ pickles."

"My favourite color's black."

"My fave fave fave _fave _colour is dark purple."

"It seems with both like dark colors and hate vegetables." Roger chuckled.

"I don't hate all vegetables. I happen to like mashed potatoes." Lizzie said defensively.

"And...?" Roger asked.

"Oh, shut up! Go on."

"I love the summer." Roger said, sighing as he looked at the leaves on the trees.

"I happen to love the summer too, because I'm cold all the time and the sun constantly being here helps me." Lizzie shrugged, rubbing her hands again her arms.

"Really? Let me feel." And without warning Roger grabbed one of Lizzie's hands and held it gently in his own calloused hand. Lizzie tensed for a second, but instantly made herself relax._ He won't hurt you. He won't hurt you..._Lizzie sighed as the warmth of Roger's hand got to her. Roger cursed himself in his hand. _Why the hell were you so forward?_ He asked himself angrily, _Oh well, too late now._

"You're right. Their fucking cold!" Roger cried, stopping the two and hesitantly grabbed Lizzie's other hand. She didn't give a fight, so Roger held them for a minute and they both stared at each other.

Until Lizzie gently pulled away and started to walk again.

"The reason why they're so cold is because I have this thing called Raynaud's Phenomenon. It's _'__A condition in which poor blood flow results in discomfort and skin color changes in affected parts of the body' _or, that's what my doc told me," Lizzie said with a shrug. Roger's confused face made her sigh, "It means I have poor blood circulation, which causes my hands to turn blue, white, and red. I have a mild case with it, but my mother has it severely. Thankfully with mine the only place it affects is my hands and feet. That's why I'm so cold."

"Oh...well, that sucks. That means you-"

"I have to wear gloves in the winter, and I have to wear socks all the time."

"Ah..." Roger then grabbed her hand again, and tenderly held it in his own. Lizzie thought about pulling away, but she didn't.

"I sometimes like to escape to the roof and play my music." Roger whispered, and instantly regretted it. How about if she decided to go up there when he was up there and ruin his alone time...

"I sometimes wake up just as the sun is rising, and sit on my fire escape and just think. Or write of course, or read." Lizzie said with a shrug. _I guess she's not worried about me visiting her during her alone time...I guess I shouldn't be worried either._

"You read?" Roger asked curiously.

"Yah...I read. But I read mostly the classics you know? _Jane Eyre_, _Pride & Prejudice_, _Dracula_, _The Chronicles of Narnia_..." Lizzie listed off. "Why?" asked Roger. "Because, they're well written and the grammar and language helps me improve my own writing."

"I want to read some of your writing some time." Roger said with a small smile.

"Cool..."

"Another fact: I _hate_ country music." Roger said with a small cringe.

"Me too. It's _so_ annoying! I mean, it's like featherlike rock, and no one likes a featherlike guitar solo. It just annoys the hell outta me." Lizzie cried, raising her hands in the air.

"Exactly!" Roger said, sounding excited. Lizzie laughed at his excitedness, and then waited for Roger to continue.

"Okay...My favourite song is _Livin' by a Prayer_ by Bon Jovi."

"I have many different favourite songs, but one of my all-time faves is _All summer Long_ by Kid Rock **(A/N awesome song btw).**" Lizzie said with a smile. She had so many memories from that song. She remembered so many beach visits spent singing and dancing on the beach to that song. Laughing and joking. Playing and happiness.

"_All summer long_?" Roger asked.

Lizzie gasped and took her hand out of his. "You're saying you've never heard _All summer Long_?"

"No."

"No? So no, _**And we were trying different things  
We were smoking funny things  
Making love out by the lake to our favourite song**_?" She sang, jumping around a bit.

"Nope, but that sounds a lot like _Sweet home Alabama_, and I've heard that one before." Roger shrugged. "That's what _All summer Long_ is based on! Okay, now I have no choice but to enlighten you about _All summer Long_." Lizzie said excitedly, before singing.

"_**Catching Walleye from the dock  
Watching the waves roll off the rocks  
She'll forever hold a spot inside my soul  
We'd blister in the sun  
We couldn't wait for night to come  
To hit that sand and play some rock and roll**_

While we were trying different things  
And we were smoking funny things  
Making love out by the lake to our favourite song  
Sipping whiskey out the bottle, not thinking 'bout tomorrow  
Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long  
Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long" she sang giddily, skipping in a circle around him. He smiled as she sang with a smile on her face. She seemed to be enjoying herself, and that was enough for him. Finally, she went back on his right side and grabbed his hand again.

"That's it?" Roger asked.

"For now." Lizzie giggled. "Of course. I expected that. Now, what else should I tell you...wait how many more things do I have to tell you?" Roger asked curiously. "Um...let me see...1 2 3...4 5...6 7 8 9 10...baddum baddum baddum...you need to tell me 5 more things." Lizzie said, looking a little shocked. Roger was too. Time passed by fast when they were together...

"Okay, um what else...I used to be friends with the yuppie scum that is now our landlord." Roger said, gritting his teeth. No matter how much everyone tried to get Roger to forgive Benny, it didn't happen.

"Benny?" Lizzie asked, surprised.

"Yah...wait, how do you know Benny?" Roger asked, also surprised.

"Mark told me about him. He does sound like quite the yuppie scum." Lizzie shrugged.

"He is, believe me. And he's such a coward. He refuses to confront us all ever since...," _Mimi left_. Roger shook his head, and continued, "Anyway, now he refuses to see us all face to face. He calls time to time but..." Roger shrugged.

"Fact about me: I hate confrontation. I'll only do it if I have to. Other than that I'm mostly peacekeeper." Lizzie said, looking away for a second.

"Hmm...You don't seem like one of those girls...anyway, what else can I tell you?" Roger mused, and then a thought suddenly hit him. _That your HIV positive, that you're an ex-junkie that both your ex-girlfriends left you..._

"I rarely cry." Roger simply said.

"My fave movie is _Titanic_." Lizzie shrugged.

"How'd you get from me rarely crying to _Titanic_?" Roger asked, amused **(A/N Yes, I know Titanic wasn't a movie then, but bear with me here)**.

"I always cry during that movie. It floored me from the moment I watched it. It was beautiful. I'm sure if we watched it together you'd sob." Lizzie said with a grin.

"Okay..."

"My new personal mission: to make Roger cry." _And to make him like me..._

"Good luck...," Roger took a deep breath, _Okay, I need to tell her...The easiest one first_, "One of my ex-girlfriends committed suicide, and another ran away so she could keep her drugs." Roger whispered, looking at the ground.

Lizzie looked mildly surprised, and then recovered with, "My last boyfriend was a total ass. I mean it totally and completely." Lizzie sighed._ I just hope that I won't ever have to tell you _what _Eric did to me._

_Okay, she took that well, hopefully she'll take this well too..._"I'm an ex-junkie." He whispered kind of wishing that he had camera like Mark did so he could hide behind it.

"I've never tried drugs." Lizzie whispered. _She took that pretty well._ Roger mused.

He opened his mouth to say the last piece of baggage that he knew would probably push her away, when Lizzie cried, "We're here!" Roger looked up, and she was right. They were at the building now. Lizzie took out her key, and busied herself to putting in the lock.

_Take a breath, Davis, you can tell her, you can tell her..._Roger thought as they both walked up the stairs in silence.

Lizzie didn't know what to think. He was an ex-junkie? Was there a part of him that still craved the drug? Was he strong enough to stay away from them? Especially while he was friends, or more, with her? As they both walked up the stairs, Lizzie realized she had to tell him one more thing about herself. _Oh God, I hope he isn't repulsed._ Lizzie thought as they found themselves at her floor.

_Okay, you can do it. You can tell—_

"I'm HIV positive!" both Lizzie and Roger cried out at the same time. They looked at each other in shock before asking, again in unison, "You?" Roger and Lizzie silently laughed, and looked up at each other again.

"Yeah, I have it. My past boyfriend gave it to me. He cheated on me with some AIDS-ridden person, and then...he gave it to me." Lizzie said softly, suddenly fighting back tears again.

"Wow...no wonder you hate him. I got it from a dirty needle I shared with my ex-girlfriend...the one who killed herself. That's why she killed herself. She was guilty, and took the easy way out." Roger said. Despite whatever he told everybody, he still found it difficult to talk about April. And he had no idea why.

"Wow...you have a very colourful past." Lizzie whispered, looking at him. She was now leaning against the door with Roger on the bottom step. "Yeah," Roger then sighed. He couldn't take it anymore, "Lizzie, I need to know...do you like me despite my baggage?"

Lizzie thought this over for a second. He certainly seemed to have a lot of baggage, but he also seemed sweet and kind. Total opposite of Eric. He's like a breath of fresh air. She didn't know if she could handle all of his baggage, but she was willing to give it a shot.

"Yeah." Lizzie whispered with a smile, and twisted her door knob. This time she didn't lock the door, since she had such trouble last night.

She turned to leave, but stopped when Roger tapped her shoulder. She turned, and Roger hesitantly placed his soft lips against hers. Lizzie sighed into the kiss, but restrained herself. She pulled away, despite the fact that she didn't want to, and whispered softly, "Goodnight."

She entered her apartment, and closed the door behind her. She sighed, and slid down the door.

_I have a feeling this is going to end up an amazing thing._

**Yeah, it's long. I know. I just began writing and couldn't stop! Next chapter will be up soon!**

**A/N Raynaud's Phenomenon is a real thing. I have it. It's when you have very poor circulation. So you can't do sports in the winter unless you're wearing something SUPER warm, or you can't stay in water too long and stuff like that. If you're cold for too long, your veins can close up therefore cutting your circulation. **

**Just a little health lesson :)**


	9. author's Note

Hey people! **Eragon's Princess** here!

Bad news people :(

I'm sad to say that each and every story on this account is on hiatus because of the fact that my computer went down, therefore erasing all of the planned chapters for my stories. So, pretty much you guys are going to have to be patient as I rewrite everything and get my computer back up

Sorry to my readers! The moment I have something, you'll all be the first to know

**-EP15**


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